What is Charter Of The Forest?

Legal Definition

The Charter of the Forest of 1217 (Carta de Foresta) is the charter that re-established rights of access to the royal forest for free men that had been eroded by William the Conqueror and his heirs. Many of its provisions were in force for centuries afterwards. originally sealed in England by the young King Henry III, acting under the regency of William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke. A companion document to the Magna Carta, redressing some applications of the Anglo-Norman Forest Law that had been extended and abused by William Rufus.